India Shines at Taiwan Open Athletics Championship with Five Gold Medals
India's Stellar Performance at the Taiwan Open
The Indian athletics team showcased an outstanding performance, securing five gold medals on the concluding day of the Taiwan Open international athletics championship held on Sunday. This included remarkable double podium finishes in both the women's 800m final and the long jump event.
Among the gold medalists were three-time national champion Vithya Ramraj, Rohit Yadav, Pooja, Krishan Kumar, and Annu Rani, each excelling in their respective disciplines.
Yashas Palaksha also made headlines by clinching silver in the men's 400m hurdles, achieving a personal best of 42.22 seconds, a significant morale booster after missing the 2025 Asian Championships.
Vithya Ramraj secured gold in the women's 400m hurdles with a time of 56.53 seconds, marking her third-best performance of the year and earning valuable ranking points ahead of the World Championships.
Hailing from Tamil Nadu, Vithya competes in the 400m hurdles, 400m, and the 4×400m relay. Previously, she recorded times of 56.04 seconds at the Federation Cup final and 56.46 seconds at the Asian Championship final.
In the men's javelin throw, Rohit Yadav achieved a best throw of 74.42 meters, securing gold despite not surpassing the 75m mark. Taipei's Huang Shih-Feng took silver with a throw of 74.04m, while Cheng Chao-Tsun finished third with 73.95m.
Pooja triumphed in the women's 800m final, setting a championship record with a time of 2:02.79 seconds, narrowly defeating her compatriot Twinkle Chaudhary, who finished with a silver time of 2:06.96 seconds.
Krishan Kumar also made a comeback, winning the men's 800m final with a championship record of 1:48.46 seconds.
Later in the women's javelin final, Annu Rani secured gold with a throw of 56.82 meters. Although she did not surpass her season's best, her performance was sufficient to outpace silver medalist Hatarabage Lekamalage from Sri Lanka (56.82m) and Taipei's Pin-Hsun Chu (53.03m).
In the women's long jump, India's Shaili Singh and Ancy Sojan claimed silver and bronze with jumps of 6.41m and 6.39m, respectively, finishing behind Australia's Delta Amidzovski, who won gold with a leap of 6.49m.